Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-10-29
GATHERING THE NEWS.
ACQUAINTANCE Is THE NEWSPAPER
MANS STOCK IN TRADE.

Getting News IL Like Buying Goods.
Certain Persons who Seem to BE News
A District Man."
/ was made aware at the beginning Of
my six years. experience as a district
man" that acquaintance is the stock in
trade Of a newspaper man. i found that
the next step was to make friends Of
acquaintance, and then to retain their
friendship. This, in connection with q
faculty of transferring thoughts to paper,
making them readable and acceptable, and
having M scruples against hard work and
plenty OF II, which the district man can
find without advertising for 1t, makes up
the lements TO insure success In covering
q district, or, in fact, to insure success in
any branch OF newspaper work. 1t has
been my purpose to become known to
every man Of note or prominence, all
politicians, all officials, in fact, to every
one in the various towns / 'cover" whose
acquaintance may be Of almost inestim-
able worth. 1t is not enough to cultivate
the acquaintance Of those representing
the sterner sex. l find il fully as essen
tial, and certainly not less agreeable, to be
+, on cordial terms with femininity, and TO
many a female acquaintance am ] in
debted for information that has resulted
in columns of acceptable matter. In my
list Of acquaintance throughout my dis
trict are, 1t Is safe to say, thousands
among them representatives Of every
branch of the territory's society.
SOMETHING LIKE SHOPPING.
Getting news is not unlike buying
goods. You go to certain stores for GER
tain articles, SO / go to certain individuals
for certain kinds Of information. AS q
result Of the making up Of my acquaint-
ance list / know just whom to call upon
personally, by telephone or otherwise, in
any town In the district to e%nligbten me
upon any subject that may be of public
interest. The quality or class of news de-
sired is the key to the persons to whom
such news would probably be known, and
of whom inquiry should be made. There
are certain persons who seem to be news
reservoirs. Here it may be a hackman,
there a barber, in another town a hotel
clerk, elsewhere a trader, but in every
town there is some one person who knows
all that is astir, and it Is as much q part
Of the business of the district man" to
look up that person and then cultivate his
acquaintance rs ii Is for him to begin
Tuesday to look forward with delight to
the arrival Of his check Saturday.
The same general principles hold In the
rural districts that are recognized in the
city as prerequisites for news gathering.
Never violate confidence and jump into
print with a story before your informer is
ready to say ''let 'er CO." That has been
with me an inflexible rule. On II district
where official information is likely to
come from those met daily year in and
year out, one violation under such circum-
stances is more than likely to ruin all fu-
turc chances Of trust in that quarter. The
rule laid down is not adopted as n matter
of expedicncy, but as one of honor, and /
have found that after having gained that
confidence honor hath its own reward.
Having travelled over some portion Of
my district daily for six years, / have
formed the acquaintance of railroad and
express men, regular patrons Of the sew
eral railroads mentioned, telegraph and
telephone operators, all of whom know
my calling, and it is a very common oc-
currence for some one of them to volun-
teer Information. II is often the case that
some friend telegraphs me Of an important
event, and the receipt Of telephone mes
sages that serve me a good purpose Is OF
almost daily occurrence.
MUST BE A ~"HUsTLER."
BY no means do ! wish to convey the
idea that a"'district MANS friends are SO
numerous and obliglng that he can sit
around and have his news served up to
him hot without any exertion on his part.
Quite the contrary. From the nature OF
the case and the duties that devolve upon
him, he must be considerable Of a "hust-
1ar - vIa r,pct ha bic nyyn avrkanpa aA-
itor and look carefully after the local pa
pers on his district in order to know what
is fermenting in his multitude Of towns;
he is ''on call" twenty-four hours a day,
and his only regular assignment is Ito
keep his district covered" in short, he IL
expected to let nothing important escape
his attention and 10 be first every time in
the race for news. The manifestations of
friendliness and consideration TO which !
have referred form a goodly portion OF the
means by which information is obtained.
1t would be well nigh impossible for
one individual to cover such an extent
Of territory as / am supposed to take care
of, end do it thoroughly, were it not for
the voluntary offering Of friends, who can
justly claim credit for a part Of whatever
success / may have gained. Then, again,
l find that the average drummer Is q store
house of information, that he hears Of
mach that is going on of which the public
is not aware, and he is a very handy factor
to consider when making up al inventory
OF my stock In trade.
To sum up briefly, then, what makes
district work successful: A wide circle Of
friends, and, when you wish to reach them
quickly and cannot see them personally, q
telephone line in prime working order,
those friends fully understanding that no
responsibility will be thrown upon them
for acting as informants. Frank H. Pope
In The Writer.